Selective licensing in Luton

What the designation says

Luton operates a selective licensing scheme covering the town centre and Park Town areas. The designation was made on 25 October 2023 and the scheme went live on 1 June 2026. Within the designated areas every privately rented home needs a licence regardless of how many people occupy it, so an ordinary flat or a house let to a single household is caught as well as shared housing. Because the designation covers named areas rather than the whole borough, a landlord should check a specific address against the council's published boundary rather than assume from the postcode. Licence fees are charged in two parts: Part A covers processing the application and is not refundable, and the remainder covers monitoring and enforcement and is refunded to unsuccessful applicants. The council ran an early-bird payment period to support landlords applying. Letting an unlicensed property inside the designated area is a criminal offence carrying a civil penalty of up to £30,000 or prosecution, and exposes the landlord to a rent repayment order.

What this means for a landlord

A licence must be in place before the property is let, not applied for afterwards. Operating unlicensed in a designated area is a criminal offence: a civil penalty of up to £30,000 per offence, a rent repayment order of up to twelve months' rent, and a section 21 notice that cannot be served while the property is unlicensed. Mandatory HMO licensing applies separately and everywhere, wherever a property is let to five or more people forming two or more households.

Luton's own licensing page →